CONTACT:

Site Resources:

Fun Stuff:

09/25/2009

Hey Carrie Gordon Earll, professional "ex-gay" advocate: ENDA protects on the basis of sexual orientation in general, not just homosexuality/bisexuality in particular! So if someone decides they want to get with someone of the opposite-sex after being with someone of the same-sex, and they are then harassed because of their actual or perceived orientation/gender identity, they WILL STILL BE PROTECTED UNDER ENDA! Just as heterosexuals will be protected based on their actual or perceived orientation or gender identity! It's not really a gay rights bill: It's a HUMAN rights bill. LGBT people just happen to be the ones with the most demonstrated vulnerability. Trust us: It's not a clique we ever asked or wanted to join!

But the most telling quip of the whole vid? At the 6:27 mark, when Carrie refers to religious freedom as "your and my religious liberty," pitting her and Stuart Shepard's faith against sexual orientation/gender identity. HOW OFFENSIVE! Last time we checked, every last one of us has a sexual orientation and gender identity, and every last one of us has a religious identity (even if it's a lack of faith). What sheer gall to suggest that (a) only Carrie and Stuart's religious beliefs are worthy of recognition, and (b) that those faith beliefs are in a category that's diametrically opposed to the completely unrelated concepts of orientation/gender! While they're so busy of accusing us of militancy, do they never stop and consider that hijacking faith in the way that they have is one of the most egregious instances of interest-motivated aggression to grace the American landscape?

The truth is that these professional opponents of LGBT freedom cannot address this bill without putting themselves on a pedestal to which the rest of us heathens can only hope to someday reach. THEY are the ones seeking a special right: The right to give their own personal faith (which is already protected) a special pass that keeps LGBT vulnerable to the whims of discrimination. This self-absorbed mentality is not only disrespectful to LGBT people, but also to the countless many religious folks who see no conflict between their spirituality and others' physical beings!

Let's call this out for what it is.

When anti-gay folks pit their belief systems against our orientation and gender identity, they gloss over an obvious fact: They hold our belief systems to be second class, separate and unequal. Every chance they get, they will paint themselves as religious and faithful while casting queer folks as having abandoned their faith. Then, they can frame the culture war as pious religious folks under siege by anti-religious groups.

Let's hold them accountable for marginalizing their fellow citizens whose lgbt-affirming belief and value systems -- religious or not -- they apparently abhor.

Posted by: Bose | Sep 25, 2009 1:09:43 PM

Wait a minute... Isn't her "religious liberty" fluid. Nobody is born a Christian they are RECRUITED into it. So why are they not trying to remove religious protections to federal law? "Can you imaging what a chilling effect being forced to hire shylocks will have on local business."-Sarcasm

Posted by: Jeff Chang | Sep 25, 2009 2:18:14 PM

Guess what Carrie. Religious beliefs are "fluid concepts." People often change them. Does that mean religious discrimination should be legal?